"Not a good sign, but at least the worst is over and we're heading for a recovery."

The No.4 furnace at Gary has a rated annual capacity of 1.36 million st/year, according to data from the Association for Iron and Steel Technology.

Thyssenkrupp received a non-binding offer from Liberty Steel for its steel unit in October.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices continued their march upwards.

The steelmaker has informed some customers that some orders for January production would have to be delayed until February.

The accelerated speed of change is not likely to stop.

While policy and decision-makers ostensibly take such measures to reduce the final offer of steel in the domestic market and support end consumers, in essence, such moves have had the opposite effect.

The inventories at 37 sampled mills also decreased by 15,200 tonnes on week to around 1 million tonnes as of November 25, according to the survey.